


Skiltgravr

by Warpony



Series: Feral Echoes [14]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Ashguard Garrison, Aurora Watch, Drow, Fledgling romance, Goliaths, Learning Magic for the Non-Magical, M/M, Rune Knight, Situational Mutism, Slow Burn, Soldier Boys, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:29:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24408838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Warpony/pseuds/Warpony
Summary: The force in Bazzoxan marches to the Ashguard Garrison...* * * * *Part of a larger WIP involving a D&D Original Character and the Critical Role Mighty Nein
Relationships: Pre-Verin Thelyss/OC
Series: Feral Echoes [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1711534
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	Skiltgravr

When the orders came to march out from Bazzoxan to the Brokenveil Bluffs to the Ashguard Garrison Brunnera was sure he'd be one of the ones left behind at the Umbra Gates. It hadn't settled well with him, not in the slightest. It was no fear of the fiends or Abyss beyond the Gate that turned the firbolg fighter's stomach. The temple had already taken from him in a way that the damage would never be undone.

It was a new dark, unhappy coil twisting under his ribs that clung to the thought that he would be left behind.

And Verin would go to the front without him.

Brunnera had gone to the Nimbus Keep with no intention of collecting any more friends or companions. He'd done a fair job of it, somewhat making a scourge of himself within the training facility to a point that multiple officers had attempted to wash him out and more than once even come down to a brawl. He'd expected no different when he'd been shipped to Bazzoxan.

In less than two days Verin Thelyss had wiggled his way under the stubborn armor that Brunnera had walled himself behind. The Taskhand hadn't stopped there, over the last few weeks burrowed deeper and deeper until the knight was nested firmly against his heart; Brunnera was begrudgingly glad for it.

The fighter knew he was missing many different pieces in the puzzle of his life but Verin was proving to be one recovered and had settled neatly in place in a time Brunnera was painfully lonely and desperately in need of someone to turn to.

They didn't work the same patrols in Bazzoxan. Verin the commander of the forces and the outpost itself. Brunnera had proven himself an unofficial expert beast hunter and often assigned to roving patrols into the Penumbras or the edge of the Barbed Fields. Somehow through it all the firbolg fighter and the Echo Knight had begun to orbit one another. Moment by moment weaving themselves into every spare second the other had. Sparring. Taking meals. Brunnera often rising early or stayed well passed his shift to walk the streets of Bazzoxan with the Echo Knight on his unofficial patrols. Now even the spare stolen moments of relaxation they spent in each other's company. Talking quietly, reading, Verin teaching the firbolg Undercommon, Sylvian and Drow Sign; Brunnera teaching the knight Giant and Nein Sign.

Brunnera had been truly surprised when Verin had come to collect him as the battalion was set into motion on a hot march for the captured outpost of Ashguard. Surprised but privately relieved and more than willing to follow the Taskhand onto the Hallowed Path road. They'd made the march safely enough, the battalion settling in with the forces of the front that had taken the garrison from the Empire. The spelled twilight overhead as it had been on Rosohna.

There were other Taskhands here. Declared champions of the Dynasty. Units that included more diversity than Bazzoxan. An active war camp that despite being in the control of the Dynasty was within the Empire.

Wandering among the permanent barracks and built tents the firbolg fighter watched and soaked up everything around him. The influx of soldiers, the rush to fortify defenses, a caravan that had followed the Bazzoxan arrivals full of arcane components, healing tonics and potions, and weapons and ballista.

Something was coming. Brunnera didn’t need to be a military genius to know that.

Brunnera could see the rolling green fields of the Marrow Valley beyond and the faint markers of Bladegarden to the north; the vague plumes of smoke of many fires. The fighter stood at his full height, ears perked forwards as if the extra few inches will let him see better.

“It’ll come from there no doubt.” A low, guttural voice rumbled, “The garden.”

The firbolg dropped back down onto his heels and twisted to look towards the unfamiliar sound, cocking his head curiously at the new stranger. Brunnera had only once seen a goliath before the firbolg had come to Ashguard Garrison; spying a scattering of the few half-giant warriors ambling among the drow, bugbears and orcs of the war camp had been a surprise. Brunnera was curious about his distant cousins but a cautious creature by nature he had yet to muster the courage to approach.

A goliath speaking to him now seemed a good enough reason to make careful introduction. He was sitting on a chunk of cut tree trunk in front of a makeshift table, older if Brunnera’s assement was to be trusted and heavily tattooed in black ink all over his bare head and arms. He sported his own armor but a silver, circular badge mounted to his pauldron marked him as Aurora Watch. Brunnera wasn’ t sure but he could guess that standing the goliath would certainly usurper him in height. 

A heavy, spiked great sword was laid out on the table and the goliath was diligently etching into the tang, a scattering of tools across the table top. Each scratch of the tools flared with a few arcane sparks. 

"Been many years since I've seen the likes of your kind." The goliath rumbled, looking up from his work. "Ghosts of the Mountain."

"You know me?" Brunnera asked, moving cautiously closer. 

"Your kind. We are cousins, are we not?" The goliath rumbled, sitting up a bit. "Long ago. In the Crystalsands Tundra. When I was a young warrior."

"Old warriors are... old for a reason..." The firbolg fighter hummed. 

The goliath smiled crookedly. "A kind way of saying it. What's your name, cousin?"

"Brunnera... yours?" The fighter moved closer until he stood next to the table studying the tools and sword in front of him, the etching the goliath had been making into the metal seemed only half done.

"Called Wolftooth by my herd. Its a name as good as any." The goliath rumbled, cocking his head, watching the firbolg's interest. "Curious, young one?"

"What... do you draw..." Brunnera asked. "In your blade...?"

"You do not know the _Skiltgravr_? The Rune Cutter?" Wolftooth asked. 

The fighter shook his head, ears flopping at the movement. "Runes?"

Wolftooth reached for a bit of charcoal and drew onto the wood of the table. The marks he made curling and deliberate. "The words of our ancestor Giants, filled with their power, for us to wield. Our blood is to thin to bear it alone. Carry an ancient rune with you. So shall those magics come to your blade and shield."

"... I can't... do magic..." Brunnera’s ears drooped. 

"Nor I, young one." Wolftooth smiled crookedly again. "It is the act of the _Skiltgravr_ that draws the magic and seals it to the rune. To be used at will."

"Like a mage?" 

"Like a force of the world. Our ancestors bore marks of the elements. Fire. Stone. Storm." The goliath pointed to different marks as he spoke. 

"Storm? Lightning?" Brunnera leaned over the marks, studying them. "Lightning... has been... unkind to me..."

"The Storm Lord tests your will." Wolftooth reasoned.

The firbolg hummed a little at that. Thinking on Yasha's patron diety. Then his ears pinning back tersly at the thought of Yasha, hoping silently she was well and the Nein closer to taking her back from Obann. 

"Do not look so troubled. Many follow and worship the Storm Lord, clinging to scraps of his attention. Few earn his favor. Fewer still earn his tests." Wolftooth smiled a little. 

Brunnera hummed and chuffed but hesitated. Not sure what to say to the line of thought. "... I would... rather use lightning... than be... bitten by it... any longer."

"Its a wise creature that seeks to make a friend of an old enemy." The goliath rumbled. Brunnera dipped his head at the compliment.

"Too bold... to ask you to... to teach me... Storm Runes?" Brunnera asked carefully. 

Wolftooth hummed, rubbing knuckles across his jaw. "What brings you to war, cousin? Your kind are peaceable, even those few of the Wastes."

The firbolg fighter sighed, "My family... has work to... be done... I came to... to keep them... from having to be bound... or brought here... against their will..."

The goliath rumbled in thought. "A fight for your herd. Honorable. The Empire drove my herd from our mountains. Others have suffered the same when they do not submit to the Empire's rules. I do not live with ideas of reclaiming it but I would spill their blood for taking this from us." 

Brunnera chuffed in quite understanding. 

"I have been a _Skiltgravr_ since my youth. I have taught my herd. Should I fall they can carry on the ways of our ancestors. I do not fear of these traditions dying. You are not my herd." Wolftooth smiled a bit "Though we are cousins. I cannot promise I will have the time to teach you all, but I will start you down this path. If it suits you, you will forge your own way without me."

Brunnera actually grinned, lips curling to show his teeth. Wolftooth smiled in return and motioned for the firbolg to come closer. The goliath started to teach him slowly, speaking quietly in Giant, with Brunnera hanging on every word. 

It took four days for Brunnera to learn to engrave the first rune with any kind of proficiency.

He kept to his duties and in the times Verin was occupied the firbolg fighter dutifully sought out Wolftooth and the other goliaths of his herd to learn and practice. It was equal parts skill and meditation, drawing the arcane to the rune from outside himself. Verin seemed just as invested in seeing Brunnera mastering the runes, tracking down engraving tools and bits of discarded metal for the firbolg to practice on. 

It was one of the quiet moments together that a rune came to life for the first time. Brunnera always felt more comfortable, more at peace with Verin near by. It was no surprise truly that with the drow knight curled up and dozing against his side that Brunnera had sunk into a bit of a trance, barely tracking the world around him. Hidden away in the officer's barracks and relaxing on Verin's bunk together; one of the few places they could go almost completely undisturbed. The fluttering vibration of Verin's heart against his ribs a metronome that synced with the soft taps and scrapes of the firbolg's tools against a piece of broken breastplate, Brunnera trying to beckon the magic he wanted to the work under his hands. As Brunnera carved the last part of the rune it flared to life, a swirl of arcane energy flowing into the mark, making it glow a rich blue before fading a bit... but the rune stayed alive. 

The Storm Giant rune _Uvar_ glowed and thrummed in Brunnera's grip. The firbolg fighter had nearly knocked Verin off the bunk trying to rouse him. He faced a fresh worry now. If the rune was strong enough or held the right magic. The ability to once a day look briefly into the future.

"You can't wait, Brun. Try it now." Verin excitedly urged the fighter, gripping his arm. 

The firbolg's tail nervously coiled around Verin's calf, squeezing a bit as he tilted the scrap of metal this way and that, eyes locked on the softly glowing rune. He tried to speak and his throat clicked mutely, letting no noise out.

"I know," Verin reassured. "But if it doesn't work then at least you know you're so much closer." 

Brunnera rumbled and took a deep breath. He carefully swept his hand over the _Uvar_. The magic flared, crackling and static like electricity, the fighter's eyes flooded with sparking blue arcane energy.

His senses plunged into the magic, the charged pool of images and sensations smelling like the ozone of air before a storm. Unused to the short pull through time Brunnera couldn't latch onto anything he saw, just catch a few flickers before the magic bled away. 

Feeling a bit queasy and dizzy the firbolg shook his head, ears flopping a bit as he caught his breath and blinking away the glaze from his eyes. 

"Brun?" Verin asked carefully, hands cradling the fighter's jaw and turning his head to catch his eye. "Brunnera? Are you alright?" 

The fighter pinned his ears and dropped his eyes bashfully. "Yes..." 

"It worked?" The Echo Knight prompted with a grin, his honey gold eyes lighting up and the smile making his pale white freckles dance on the drow's dark skin. Brunnera nodded and managed a crooked kind of smile. Verin laughed aloud and giving Brunnera's head a tug pressed a kiss to the bolt of the fighter's jaw. 

Brunnera actually blushed a bit, masked by his bay roan fur.

"Well go on, tell me what you saw." The Echo Knight all but demanded. 

"Couldn't keep up... just.... that..." The fighter mumbled. 

"That? That what?" The knight urged gently.

Brunnera tilted his jaw up once and hummed before dropping it again. Verin's brow dipped in thought then he grinned a little. "Hopefully not to bad for a first glimpse into the future?"

"... Definitely not..." The firbolg hummed quietly, giving Verin's calf another soft squeeze with his tail, eyes still cast away shyly. 

With Wolftooth's approval and blessing Brunnera started to learn a new Storm Giant rune, one more difficult than _Uvar_ but if mastered the _Skiltgravr_ assured it would harness lightning to Brunnera's strikes and weapons.

The firbolg had a spare two days to practice the rune before the Empire's forces broke on Ashguard like a wave...

**Author's Note:**

> So the Rune Knight is a Unearthed Arcana (UA) D&D subclass that is pretty much how I described things happening here. Finding a Skiltgravr (Rune Cutter) and they teach you to carve a rune into armor or weaponry to make use of during a fight. 
> 
> In the case of the Storm Rune, Uvar, you get a chance to look "into the future" and gives advantage on Intelligence checks, you can't be surprised, you can enter a 'prophetic state' for one minute and use a reaction to make a roll for you or another creature have advantage or disadvantage. It's pretty nifty and it'll be a nice little linch pin for some developmental stuff down the road. 
> 
> The lightning rune though is hogwash homebrew I made up because of plot XD
> 
> There's a lot of nifty features to the Rune Knight subclass that fit Brunnera's personality and his motives in life so I think it's going to be an interesting choice for him. 
> 
> Also soldier boys being twitterpainted…
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed this one! I was a lot of fun to write! Thank you for taking the time to read!


End file.
